Intellectual Productions

Intellectal Production #3 Game-Based Pedagogies

Intellectual Production #4: Understanding Games and Play

IP #1 Thinking about Game Design

Having read chapters 1-3 and do at least 5 of the exercises Fullerton suggests. They are mostly quick, some go deeper, but you can pick and choose. The idea is to work with the ideas she is presenting ways to think deeply and productively about your own game design. This is REQUIRED.

Exercise 1.3: Your Life as a Game

List five areas of your life that could be games. Then briefly describe a possible underlying game structure for each.

Putting groceries away (Tetris-like game)
You live in a tiny apartment and can only buy groceries once a week. You have to find the perfect way to store all your groceries in your cupboard and fridge using the skills in tetris

Buying groceries (Price is Right)
Your budget is $100. Buy as many groceries as you can without going over! Don’t forget about taxes!

Making a seating plan (similar to minesweeper)
Try to make a seating plan without hitting any “mines”. Some possible “mines” may include: students who don’t like each other or had previous issues with, needs to sit near the front, needs to sit away from Jimmy, can’t see/hear properly unless in the front

“Racing” another car through heavy traffic
Which car reaches the next traffic light first during your morning commute

Fixing your car (hybrid of operation and a puzzle)
Something wrong with your vehicle? Since you consider yourself something of a mechanic, take the engine apart, clean each piece, and try to put it back together perfectly! Keep an eye out for high pressure chambers and live wires!

Exercise 1.5: Your Childhood

List ten games you played as a child, for example, hide and seek, four square, and tag. Briefly describe what was compelling about each of those games.

Tag
We often played tag because there are so many varieties! Freeze tag, toilet tag, and bubble gum tag were some of my favourites! The common part of all these versions was to run as fast as you can! I love running, especially when there is a goal to it (either run away or try to tag someone).

Hide and Seek
I really liked the challenge of trying to fit in the smallest spaces for hide and seek! I was a short and small child, so I tried to cram myself into the smallest spaces I could! This was allowing me to be creative and I didn’t realize that at the time! My favourite spot was in the laundry hamper, under clothes.

Crazy Eight Countdown
Once we were familiar with Crazy Eights, we were introduced to Crazy Eight Countdown. It has the exact same objective, but each time you get rid of your cards, you down a number. While 8 was a wild card in the beginning round, 7’s were wild on the next round, then 6, etc counting down to 0. There is a lot of strategy involved that I learned from playing with older friends or just different people in general.

War
This fun two player card game was easy to play with my sister on camping trips and always shocked us when we came across double or even triple wars!

Speed
Named correctly, You need fast hands and the ability to think even faster! Playing this card game the majority of my childhood, I came to learn numerous adaptations and was able to play with young, old, beginners, and experienced players.

Grounders
The classic playground game where one person is “it” while closing their eyes on the ground, and everyone else is on the playground equipment trying to not get tagged. If the person that is “it” thinks someone is touching the ground, they yell “grounders” and anyone touching the ground becomes it. I liked this a lot because it was easy to play during a short recess or longer lunch. Also, there was no limit to how many kids could play, and allowed for different strategies (staying still, yelling and running across the ground, climbing across, etc).

SOS
My grandparents taught my sister and I this game on the long ferry rides to the Gulf Islands. It’s essentially tic tac toe on steroids. This game involved strategy and looking at things from multiple perspectives. I liked that I could play this with my sister or grandparents and each game was so different. (see my Exercise 3.2 for more on rules and objectives).

Red Rover
Another classic elementary school game. I loved launching myself on their arms and then just hanging there because I wasn’t big enough to break through. This is one of the few games that I was not good at, but still liked playing! I usually get very frustrated with games that I don’t do well in, but I think because I was a part of a team then I didn’t blame a loss on my performance. Fun fact: my grade played this game so hard, we were banned from playing it because of so many injuries!

Kick Ball
I enjoyed kick ball for very similar reasons to tag. There are so many varieties and was a pretty quick paced game. In addition to loving to run, I also love kicking a ball! Kick ball was always a favourite PE activity!

Soccer
It may surprise you to know my favourite sport is soccer. I’ve been playing since I was 4 years old, and now manage and play on two teams. Of course there are major running and kicking components to soccer, but also scoring! I started out as a defender, but now I love being in the middle of the play and setting up scoring opportunities!

Exercise 2.3: Objectives

List five games, and in one sentence per game, describe the objective in each game.

Crazy Eight Countdown - Get rid of all your cards as fast as you can
Hide and Seek - be the last to be found
SOS - Connect the most S’s and O’s to make as many “SOS’s” as you can
Soccer - score more goals than the other team
Red Rover - Break through the opposing teams linked hands

Exercise 3.2: Three-Player Tic-Tac-Toe

Create a version of tic-tac-toe that works for three players. You might need to change the size of the board or other elements of the game to do this.

This is a cousin to the classic Tic-Tac-Toe game called

"Advanced Tic Tac Toe" (trademark pending)

Object - to link the letters A, B, and C more times that your opponents
Rules
- Each player takes their turn placing a single letter (options a, b, or c) anywhere on the board (a 25x25 grid).
- Once the letters A, B, and C are placed side by side, put a line through it giving you a point.
- Points may be collected by creating ABC or CBA horizontally, vertically, or diagonally.
- Letters may be used numerous times, but once a point has been collected for an ABC, the same letters may not be used to collect a point for CBA.

Exercise 3.4: Objectives

List ten of your favorite games and name the objective for each. Do you see any similarities in these games? Try to define the type or types of games that appeal to you.

SOS - The objective is to connect the most S’s and O’s to make as many “SOS’s” as you can.
Hide and seek - The objective is to be the last to be found.
Crazy eight countdown - The objective is to get rid of all your cards first and being first to complete all 8 rounds.
War - The objective is to win all the cards through small “battles” where the higher card wins.
Speed - The objective is to get rid of all your cards first.
Grounders - The objective is to not get tagged by the person who is “it” or be caught touching the ground.
Kick ball - The objective is to score more runs than the other team.
Soccer - The objective is to score more goals than the other team.
Tag - The objective is to run away from the person that is “it” and not be tagged. If you are “it”, tag someone else.
Red Rover - The objective is to break through the opposing teams linked hands.

Games 1 - 5 are individual and strategy, whereas games 6 - 10 are team and running based.
I've determined that my style of game is either team based games that involve running or independent card games that involve strategy.

IP#2 Foundational Reading

Serious Play

Descriptive:

The authors state that education is losing its playfulness because students are supposed to “get down to business”. de Castell and Jenson suggest that for gaming to be effective, it should be done seriously by students investing their effort, commitment, and determination. Overall, they hope for curriculum developers to revisit the idea of games being used as a powerful tool as opposed to ‘record-keeping’.

Analytical:

de Castell and Jenson focus on the “why” of serious play, but assume that schools have enough technology to encourage frequent and consistent game play. The authors concentrate on promotion and incorporation of games into the curriculum, but lose focus on the vast amount of games that curriculum developers would need to sift through to vouch for strong games, or underestimate what an undertaking it would be to design cross-curricular games or games for each subject.

Question:

What considerations would be taken for adapting games for students with sensory challenges, don’t have english as their native language, or physical limitations?

Video game literacy: A Literacy of expertise

Descriptive:

Squire argues that video games provide a wide range of skills necessary for students to master, such as increased independence, preference to multitasking, and creative problem solving. This chapter encourages the idea that video games can have a profound effect on education but that there needs to be a shift in the organization of how agency is created in learners. The author suggests that gamer communities have untapped possibilities for future research and the social skills associated with them.

Analytical:

Squire describes numerous benefits of playing video games, but does not address any negative implications. The author analyzes games in learning, schooling, and educational contexts, yet does not suggest realistic solutions that educators, administration, or curriculum developers could execute.

Question:

How are educators, especially in the United States, supposed to encourage game play with students when standardized tests are usually at the forefront of their planning?

Bridge:

Squire, de Castell, and Jenson recognize that games provide more than just a medium where people can practice their hand eye coordination and accuracy, but a multimodal space where gamers can be creative, make connections to their learning, and develop a hard working attitude. Both readings offer a very deep appreciation for how video games can improve not only the education, but the lives of today’s youth, and promoting skills that will extend past their schooling.

Readings:

de Castell, S. & Jenson, J. (2003). Serious Play. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 35, 6, 649-666.
Squire, K. Video game literacy: A literacy of expertise. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/1317105/Video-Game_Literacy–A_Literacy_of_Expertise

Intellectal Production #3 Game-Based Pedagogies

Chapter 2Chapter 2 of Serious Play suggests that games wouldn’t be successful in the classroom setting unless there are interactions. The study had participants, between 5 to 16 years old, play games containing content that ranged across curriculum in multidisciplinary areas. The authors summarize student responses into four sections: student expectations of games to be fun, interactive, and challenging, the ability to have preference with storyline, characters, and graphics, identifies possible problematic areas such as not enough time and technology, and lastly, students recommended researchers find a way to balance serious and fun. Beavis, Thompson, and Muspratt focused on data from 75 students in a focus group and survey responses of 643 students in 2012 and 2014 which asked questions on expectations, preferences, possible problems, and recommendations to base their conclusions of student thoughts on digital games. It was surprising that they did not collect qualitative data in the 2012 surveys, nor execute any surveys in 2013. I wonder if teachers found any difference in knowledge retention or deep understanding with students after introducing the use of digital games.
Chapter 5Chapter 5 is a more in depth look into the researchers exploring the concept of curatorship in four different classes ranging across grade level and subject area. The examples provided explained the grade level, area of curriculum targeted, and the role of the teacher while connecting to the idea of curatorship. Beavis et al. argue that educators need to balance curriculum curatorship, the needs of the students, and classroom pedagogy. The authors focus on teachers being the curators of digital media and how widely available resources are available, however they assume all resources are created equally, are easy to find quality resources across the web, and do not put educators in financial deficit to acquire. Chapter 5 discusses curatorship in depth through four examples across grade levels and subject areas where teachers curate discussions, space, materials, time, tech, and games, however fail to address how teachers attempted to assess students skills, efforts, end products, knowledge, or productivity. I wonder what modifications or adaptations the researchers and teachers would have to make to ensure any child with vision or processing difficulties could partake in this experiment.
BridgeBoth of these chapters focus on student engagement while finding a balance between serious and play. From an educator point of view, we hope to have all students involved and engaged in the lesson or task at hand, while still balancing having a classroom environment that is productive and encouraging for all learners. Students want to see a balance in the games themselves: challenging yet not “overly educational”, enjoyable yet not boring, and interactive yet able to play at any level. Finding that balance takes dedication from the teachers and an open mindedness from the students.

Intellectual Production #4: Understanding Games and Play

When I think of playing, I see kids running around in the sun and hear giggles and screaming. After reading Caillois (2006) and Huizinga (2006), my initial thoughts are both confirmed and expanded. While both define play as free, voluntary, and for enjoyment, I would add Huizinga’s mention of “limitless of time and space, and promoting of social gathering” (pg. 107) to my definition of play. The scenario that I observed was my dog at a dog park. My 2 year old aussiedoodle, Sherman, is a big, goofy, socialite that loves everyone and everything! As soon as we entered the park, he was determined to meet everyone in the shortest amount of time possible. As soon as a dog showed a slight interest in him, he would instantly start playing with them! He starts by stealing (or trying to steal) their ball or stick and initiates a game of “catch me if you can”. Sherman essentially will do this indefinitely until either the other dog(s) loose interest, or another dog gets the item from him. He once played with another dog for four hours straight, only stopping because we took him home! Sherman also has the memory of a goldfish, so he will be playing with a certain dog for ages and then, like a switch, start playing with another dog or chase a stick thrown into the water. Without a doubt, I instantly put Sherman in the competition, agôn, quadrant of Caillois’s types of games. These types of games are dependent on the decisions made by the player, in this scenario Sherman. Caillois suggested that even though the concept of agôn is not known to animals, they still have a competitive urge during encounters that has spontaneously accepted limits that are respected (pg. 132). That being said, dogs have an unsaid accepted way of playing with each other. Huizinga mentions there is a division between play and seriousness which is difficult to determine (pg. 103). This is applicable to the animal kingdom as well. Dogs can communicate by growling, biting, and tucking their tail if they are not enjoying the play and taking it more seriously than the other dog. While watching Sherman play at the dog park, I was able to observe five of Caillois’s aspects of play: free, unproductive, separate, uncertain, and governed by rules. The play was free because there were many dogs not joining in the “game” so playing was not obligatory. Separate space (dog park) and time was predetermined by the dog moms and dads at the park. The goal of the dogs playing was uncertain: keep away, chase, tug of war? There is no profit or creation of new elements (unless you count ripping a stick in half to make two sticks). Lastly, dogs playing could be said to follow some rules that are outside of ordinary dog life. For example, dogs walking on a path may have an unsaid rule that they have to sniff each other and then continue on, but in a dog park there are less restrictions to behaviours. To conclude, watching my dog play has solidified some connections to Caillois and Huizinga’s articles. Caillois’s concepts of what defines play and his classification of games, and Huizinga’s elaboration of play being a way to escape limitations of time and space of ordinary life and the promotion of social gatherings were a few connections I made while observing Sherman.

IP#5 Rules, Norms and Values in Play

The premise of our game is to redirect students to be productive in a “Whack-A-Mole” style game. No students will be “whacked” of course, but they will be redirected back to the “task” that they are working on at their desk. The beginning of the game would start off easy and increase in difficulty with obstacles such as interruptions, student issues, and as we started to conceptualize our game yesterday, we were more concerned about how the game would work, not the values we were trying to achieve. Our first challenge was to determine what are the actual values of our game! After making note of about 13, we thought that there were many that overlapped and accompanied each other. Since this game is played through the teacher, the overarching value that I noticed was “individualization”. Teachers need to understand students are different and should be treated equitably. An example of students who have a rough home life, teachers should understand students need food/quiet space/walk. This main value links to respect and happiness. The second value that I think our game focuses on is happiness. What makes students happy can be very unique to each person. The teacher in the game could look at the student not being productive and determine what would help that particular student become productive. For example, a student looks like they are staring off into space, so the teacher could decide to give them a snack. Lastly, this game values respect. The teacher is valuing that each student is coming in with different backgrounds. The respect is shown through the teacher selecting an appropriate solution to get the student back on task. All students are so unique so there will be different solutions. In conclusion, I would suggest that our game values are individualization, happiness, and respect.

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